verybody is using the Bible. The Bible, as we know, has been used in divisive ways,” said Olive Hemmings, Ph.D., professor of theology, ethics, and culture at Washington Adventist University, during the Conscience & Justice Council podcast: “They Are not Like Us.”

“When we’re talking about the Bible as foundation, we must ask ourselves, how are we using the Bible? Are we using the Bible as a tool of control, or are we using it as God’s instrument for human liberation? If I go with the gospel preached by the Hebrew prophets and Jesus of Nazareth, I will go with the Bible as an instrument of human liberation.”

Unlike the way Bible-toting Christian Nationalists who cite biblical values, authentic biblical interpretation is not a human invention imposed upon the text. It is a necessary response to the nature of Scripture itself—it is divinely inspired, internally consistent, and understood in community and truth. In considering II Timothy 3:16-17, a faithful hermeneutic emerges not from partisan persuasion or self-interests, but from reverence for God’s Word and a desire to hear it rightly, as inspired by God.

Friedrich Schleiermacher, known as the father of modern hermeneutics, defined hermeneutics as the science of interpreting texts through a biblical context.

A foundational passage for biblical hermeneutics is found in Nehemiah 8:8, which states:

“They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading” (ESV).

This verse reveals three key components of biblical interpretation: reading the text, explaining it, and ensuring understanding. This approach demonstrates that interpretation was necessary even in the earliest stages of Israel’s post-exilic worship and community life.

Jesus Himself models a biblical hermeneutic in Luke 24:27, where, following His resurrection, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”

Here, Jesus affirmed the unity and Christocentric nature of the Old Testament, showing that Scripture should be interpreted considering its fulfillment in Him.

Another biblical principle foundational to hermeneutics is that Scripture interprets Scripture. Through parallel passages, this principle is evident in the way biblical authors reference and interpret earlier texts. For example, Matthew 1:22–23 cites Isaiah 7:14 to demonstrate that Jesus’ virgin birth fulfills prophecy. This shows that later revelation often clarifies or completes earlier revelation, suggesting a divine coherence and continuity that demands careful theological interpretation.

Paul also endorses a spiritually guided approach to Scripture in 1 Corinthians 2:12–13: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”

Here, the apostle emphasizes that true understanding of Scripture comes not merely through human intellect, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. Biblical hermeneutics is not merely academic; it is moral and spiritual.

Further, II Timothy 2:15 urges believers to “present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” This “right handling” implies that there is a correct and incorrect way to interpret Scripture—one that honors the text’s meaning, context, and divine origin.

“The question of what Scripture means has taken a back seat to the issue of what it means ‘to me.’ The difference may seem insignificant at first,” stated noted theologian, John MacArthur. “We have adopted practicality as the ultimate judge of the worth of God’s Word.”

In a Time article titled, “How Christian Slaveholders Used the Bible to Justify Slavery,” the author highlights two favorite texts of slaveholders: Genesis 9:18-27 and Ephesians 6:5-7.

The article failed to mention the heavily redacted “Slave Bible,” however. The “Slave Bible,” as described in History Magazine’s “Why Bibles Given to Slaves Omitted Most of the Old Testament,” was altered and used by enslavers to hide the evils of slavery, and remove from it stories and themes of liberation and personhood. They removed anything they thought “might incite them to rebel.”

But, unredacted, we see the Bible in its revelation of God’s character and goodness to the disadvantaged, vulnerable, and oppressed: to rebuke classism, we refer to James 2:1-4. In addressing ageism, we can reference Leviticus 19:32 or I Timothy 5:1-2. To support people with disabilities, we see purpose in John 9:23. To refute sexism, we can cite Galatians 3:28, I Corinthians 11:11, or Genesis 1:27.

Finally, it helps to remember that as we read, absorb, teach and preach the Bible, it is no mere piece of human literature. Rather, as II Peter 1:20–21 warns: “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (ESV).

This underscores the sacred nature of Scripture and the responsibility to interpret it without prejudice.

“There are a lot of things in the Bible that are not liberating,” said Hemmings. “And Jesus showed us how to point that out, how to see those or to recognize those. That’s why I say the hermeneutic of Jesus was the hermeneutic of liberation.”